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Sunday, February 28, 2016

This is a legend that has
persisted in Chihuahua, Mexico for 86 years. People from all over the world
have come to this town to see a mannequin that stands in the front window of a
bridal shop.

Pascuala Esparza

Pascuala Esparza who owned
this shop had a young beautiful daughter. Tragically, she died on her wedding
day from a Black Widow bite.

Soon after this death Esparza’s
shop displayed a new mannequin in the shop’s window. It wasn’t long before the
residents of Chilhuahua began to be concerned.

It was noted this mannequin
held an uncanny resemblance to Esparza’s daughter. Even more disturbing the
form had a life-like appearance. The face has wide expressive eyes with a fresh
blush skin tone. The hands in particular looked real with nails on the fingers and lifelines
on the palms.

The mannequin.

The locals began to refer to
the form as La Pascualita meaning
little Pascuala or “her daughter.”

The hair on this form also
appeared real.

Rumors began that this form
was actually the preserved or embalmed corpse of Esparza’s daughter. Many of
the local residents now looked upon Pascuala Esparaza with stern disapproval.

This grieving mother
flabbergasted by these rumors tried to deny them but no one would listen. By
this time rumors began to be spread that there was something even stranger
about this mannequin.

People passing by the shop
claimed the form eerily followed them with its eyes. Others in the shop mentioned
the mannequin’s eyes appeared to follow their every move.

Employees at the shop stated
that often when they returned to work in the morning they found the mannequin
had changed positions in the window.

One wild rumor stated that a
French magician smitten by the beauty of the mannequin fell in love. It was
said he approached the window at night where he brought the form back to life and
then he would take her “out on the town.”

Even today, there are some who
still believe this mannequin is a real human corpse. Their belief was given
credence when a more recent employee, Sonia Burciaga who is tasked with
changing the bridal gowns on this form stated she doesn’t like touching it.

She mentioned that the figure even has varicose veins on its legs.

A taxi driver who often
brings tourists to the shop to see this mannequin in downtown Chihuahua states
that he has seen this form change positions as he circles the shop in his car.

Other witnesses still report
seeing it watch them or change positions.

Some believe this figure is a
saint and they leave offerings for it at the shop.

In recent years several people have gotten their panties twisted over this story—stating there is no way a corpse
could be preserved in this state for so long. Well yeah, that’s kind of
obvious.

With research one discovers
this mannequin is made of wax—which accounts for its life-like appearance.

Keep in mind this story is a
“legend.” Legends are told for entertainment, they spice life up.

Logically, no one would buy a
wedding gown that had been displayed on an embalmed corpse. But this bridal
shop has gotten a lot of free publicity over the years.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

One classic legend from Utah
inspired Rod Serling to write one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes—Mr. Garrity and the Graves.

A stranger appeared in Alta,
Utah in the mid 1860s. Alta today is a ski resort * but then it was little more
than a muddy hole amidst the Wasatch Mountains.

This silver boomtown east of
Salt Lake City was made up of a handful of fake storefronts, miner’s tents and several
whiskey establishments.

Alta's main road.

The stranger stood in the
middle of the main road one early morning patiently waiting to attract
attention.

This didn’t take long for the
tall slender man was dressed in biblical robes with a long beard to match. Once
a crowd had gathered the stranger then gestured toward Rustler Mountain where
the town’s cemetery lay.

This cemetery mostly held those
who had died through violent acts and diseases common to the time.

Several locals asked him what
was his business. He smiled and made an offer. He offered to raise the dead.

As the crowd leaned in he
continued. He promised to bring back their loved ones, all those who had been
taken too soon. Waves of delight swept through his now rapt audience.

If there were any who were
skeptical about the stranger’s claims of being able to perform Lazarus-like
miracles, they did not voice their concerns.

Many who heard this offer
thought fondly on their lost son or daughter, mother or father, friend or
lover.

The stranger told the crowd
with modesty and patience that he was willing to wait to nightfall for their
reply. As he walked away many in the group had already made up their minds.

Who wouldn’t want to welcome
back a lost loved one? Or would they?

Doubts slowly took hold. The
awkwardness of their loved ones returning began to dawn on them.

I am married again—to a
younger wife, her house has been turned into a brothel, I don’t want to give
back the money I inherited, we sold Uncle’s claim.

It became apparent that this
was about the worst idea anyone had ever heard. The complications involved were
insurmountable.

That evening a committee was
sent to the cemetery to thank the stranger for his nice offer but they had
decided to decline.

The stranger shook his head
and stated that it was too late. He walked into the cemetery. The group
panicked by his action quickly dug into their pockets and came up with over $2500
in silver and coins.

They asked the stranger would
he leave if they paid him. He looked from one anxious face to another and
nodded. He took the money, stuffed into his pack and then rode away.

The dead of Alta were left in
peace.

Rod Serling’s version of this
story first aired in 1964. He stayed true to the story with a few exceptions.

Scene from Mr. Garrity and the Graves.

He made the town, Happiness,
Arizona, the stranger, as he enters the town, brings a dog back to life after
he hits and kills it with his wagon, he then promises to raise over 128 dead
people.

When the townsfolk realize
the folly of his offer they pay him off one by one. The stranger played by the
actor, John Dehner leaves Happiness a wealthy man.Serling with his usual
panache leaves the viewer with an extra surprise at the end. Here is a short snippet from
this episode. It shows the surprise ending.

Emma Silver Mine and the eity, 1875.

*The silver boom in Alta started in 1865, the
town grew to 8,000 residents by 1872 but due to water in the mines and the
expense of smelting the town was deserted by 1880.

Friday, February 26, 2016

In 1890, Bob Womack discovered
gold in poverty gulch * in southern Colorado. Almost overnight the town of
Cripple Creek sprang up. Hotels, theatres and saloons catered to the miners
needs—taking their hard-earned gold.

* Ironically, Womack died in poverty.

At its peak Cripple Creek had
25,000 residents and during this boom the mines yielded 600 million dollars. Today the area between Cripple Creek and Victor is still actively mined.

Two fires devastated the town in 1896. The result was 6 deaths, 2 million dollars in damage and 5,000 people
left homeless.

During the reconstruction of
the town The Collins Hotel opened its doors. At the turn of the century it was renamed The New Collins Hotel.

The hotel was renamed once more in 1905. The new owner was an Englishman by the name of George Long. The
hotel was now known as the Imperial.

Imperial Hotel

The story goes Long left
England because his “deafness” was an embarrassment to his aristocratic family.
He also married his first cousin Ursula, which guaranteed his family shunned him.

George and his wife had 2
children a daughter and a son. Long was an architect, painter and loved his
scotch whiskey a little too much. He also loved his new hotel and it flourished
under his guidance.

He and his family lived in an
apartment that was near the hotel’s lobby. After the boom ended the
Long family remained hoping for the best.

As Long’s daughter became
older it was apparent she suffered from a mental disability—probably a
result of the couple being first cousins. When she had “fits” the family
would lock her in their apartment.

In the 1930s, after a heated
argument with her father this girl followed him to the top of the basement
stairs. She took an iron frying pan and hit him over the head, killing him. She
then was placed in a mental hospital.

In a tamer version of how
George Long died it is stated he accidentally fell down the rickety basement stairs
on his way to a coal chute.

Long’s widow sold the
Imperial Hotel to Stephen Mackin in 1946. Mackin and his family lived in the
same apartment that the Longs used. This space later was used for the Red Rooster Bar.

Mackin and his family
endeavored to bring “theatre” back to Cripple Creek—by 1953 the Imperial was producing turn of
the century melodramas.

The director of this theatre
and several actors reported seeing George Long’s ghost. Several of the kitchen staff also
encountered his ghost. In the early 1980s one actor, Pat Sawyer saw Long.

One afternoon, while in the theatre he saw George standing behind the
bar. Sawyer described him as a well-dressed bald man, with a monk like turf
of hair surrounding his head.

This matched descriptions
given of George Long.

Mackin while he owned the hotel downplayed this haunting—not wanting what he characterized as
“the attention of strange folks” coming into the hotel to do investigations.

Imperial Hotel

In 1992 gambling came to
Cripple Creek, Mackin sold the Imperial. The new owners renovated the
hotel—restoring it to its Victorian beauty. The hotel now has new French wallpaper,
crystal chandeliers and antique furnishings.

It also has a new
restaurant and a casino. It was renamed Imperial Casino Hotel.

Richard L. Duwe was employed
at the hotel from 1994 to 1997. He states most employees who worked the night
and graveyard shifts encountered George Long’s ghost.

This activity mostly centers
on the casino’s slot machines. After the casino closed one night a security camera caught
a slot machine spilling all its coins out.

These machines have two
fail-safes so this cannot happen. The Colorado gaming commission determined that the machine caught on
video was working fine. It appears George doesn’t like
gambling in his beloved hotel.

On another occasion, Duwe
heard a slot machine being used, coins being fed into it, after the casino was
closed.

Thinking a patron had been
left behind he and several others searched the slots but found no one in the
room and not one machine had their light on—indicating it had been played
recently.

In one secure room where the
rolled coins are stored, Duwe heard a knock and then extremely loud slams on
the two sets of entry doors. He searched but no was at the door or in the hall.
Duwe then announced out loud, “Knock it off, George.”

This is a trick the employees
have learned to use to stop George’s impish behavior.

George and Ursula Long's bed
Room 43.

Recently, people have seen
George’s ghost wandering the hotel’s hallways. Rooms 39 and 42 are active. He
is known to open and shut doors and turn on the bathroom facets.

When people go to turn this
water off they hit their legs on an open drawer in the bathroom that Long’s
ghost opens to bar their entry.

Cripple Creek today is sometimes called "Creepy Creek" because there are so many ghost stories told about the town.

Excerpts from Jeff Belanger’s
book entitled, World’s Most Haunted
Places.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

In the early 19th
century Britain and France where fighting the Napoleonic Wars. Despite
President Thomas Jefferson and then President James Madison’s efforts to keep
neutral-- America found itself right in the middle of this conflict.

British impressment of Americans into service.

British and French trade
restrictions disrupted American trade, which had a devastating impact on our shipping industry and country.

These two country's privateers and military vessels blocked our ports and harassed American ships. The
British took this a step further when they began to use impressment to take American men and goods illegally into their
service.

President Madison’s response
was to impose the economic Embargo Act of
1807. It essentially kept American ships bottled up in harbors along the
East Coast.

This Embargo backfired for
since it restricted our ships from trading for needed goods—it hurt the
American people even more.

Also, ironically, this
Embargo didn’t stop the British harassment, which further damaged the American
economy. The end result was President Madison declared war against Great
Britain in 1812.

Privateering during War of 1812.

During the War of 1812 the
U.S. government licensed private armed vessels, known as privateers, which were
not part of the American navy, to detain, seize and take enemy vessels, their crews
and their goods. They then would bring these men into U.S. ports for
prosecution.

So privateers were in part sanctioned
pirate ships.

Dash

One such ship was a topsail
schooner called the Dash. Built in
Freeport, Maine in 1813 she was a half model or what is called a Hawk nest. This meant she had 16 guns
and another ten fake “Quaker” wooden ones to fool the enemy.

She was built for speed and
eventually was re-rigged with a special sail to increase her already impressive
speed.

The Dash was able to break
Portland’s blockade 3 times in 1813 with a cargo of lumber for trade. She
returned from the West Indies having traded for coffee and sugar cane.

In September of 1814, she was
commissioned as a privateer. She was re-armed with more guns and more men—mostly
from Freeport. The Dash was able to capture 14 enemy vessels—all without one
single injury to her crew.

In January of 1815 she left
port with another privateer, the Chamberlain.
She pulled ahead but ran into a heavy gale. The Chamberlain turned back but the
Dash continued.

She was never heard from
again. It is not known what happened to her but some speculate that her captain
underestimated her speed and ran her aground on the treacherous shoals of the
Georges Banks.

Within months of the Dash’s
disappearance fishermen in Casco Bay swore they saw the Dash bearing down on
them through a mist. As this ship headed for Freeport they clearly saw the
words “Dash—Freeport” written on her bow.

Over the years these
sightings continued, at one point they even increased. Fishermen and other
boaters reported that this schooner seemed to appear out of nowhere—always in a
fog.

Foggy Casco Bay

Witnesses noted that despite
the fact there wasn’t any breeze this did not prevent this sailing ship from moving
quickly.

A legend that grew out of
these sightings states that when a family member of one of Dash’s 60
crewmembers dies this ship returns to bear these loved ones on their final
journey.

One impressive witness
sighting occurred in the 1940s during WWll. A U.S. navel ship and Coast Guard
boats that were protecting Casco Bay saw an unusual sight one foggy afternoon.

A blip was noticed on their
radar screens. These vessels headed for the spot. As the sirens went off and
all men reported to their stations they were surprised to see a 19th
century sailing schooner.

It was cruising along the
channel headed for Freeport. By the time they reached this old ship it had
disappeared.This sighting has been
written about several times and has gone down as one of the most bizarre
occurrences on the East Coast during the war.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Two ghosts have been seen at
this art museum when a portrait of them was on display in this building.

Cleveland Museum of Art
1916 Building

The Cleveland Museum of Art
opened its doors in 1916. It has been expanded and renovated over the years. It
sits in northeastern Ohio in in the town of Cleveland. It is by the city’s Wade
Lagoon and Fine Arts Park.

Claude Monet, the forefather
of French Impressionism had a distinct appearance while alive. His salt and
pepper beard and favorite bowler hats made him easily recognizable.

When this Cleveland art
museum installed a show in 2011 entitled: Painting
the Modern Garden, Monet to Matisse, staff at the museum saw Monet’s ghost.

Monet's Water Lilies displayed in museum.

Jeffrey Strean, the museum’s
director of design and architecture saw Monet standing on a balcony overlooking
the space used for this new show. Monet stood and watched directly above where
a vintage photo of him was being hung.

Ghost or Monet look-alike.

In a gallery located in the
original space in the museum known as the 1916
Building, one of the original directors of the museum has been seen.

William Milliken

William Mathewson Milliken
has been seen wandering through this space. He began work in the museum in 1919
and by 1930 he became the museum’s second director. In all, he worked at the
museum for 38 years. He retired in 1958 and passed away in 1978.

Under his guidance the museum
gained an international reputation.

He is seen wearing his
favorite tweed jacket with elbow patches. He appears to clutch a folder under
one arm. It was not until the staff went through the museum’s photograph collection
that this connection was made.

Renovated haunted gallery at museum.

In this gallery, night
watchmen report their flashlights malfunction. When they enter the room their
lights extinguish, once they leave the room their lights turn back on.

During one renovation workmen
wearing hardhats reported something similar. The lights on their hats would go
out in this gallery only to turn back on once they left the room.

Jean-Gabriel du Theil
at signing of
Treaty of Vienna.

Another haunting involves an
oil portrait entitled, Portrait of
Jean-Gabriel du Theil at the Signing of the Treaty of Vienna done by
Jacques André Joseph
Arel. The ghost of Jean-Gabriel du Theil has been seen observing his image.

Water leaks and electrical
shorts plagued the corner where their picture once hung. When this oil painting
was put in storage the issues stopped.

The above stories where first
written down by Carolyn Ivanye the museums protection services operations
manager.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

A middle-aged couple, the
Lamberts were on a cruise ship headed for Asia in 1928. Their first stop was
Japan. Mrs. Lambert fell in love with an old statuette in one Kobe junk shop window.
The couple was pleasantly surprised to discover it was priced reasonably.

Kobe Japan 1920s

The shopkeeper told them that
it was a Laughing Buddha or Ho-tei.
It was the Japanese god for good luck, especially for travelers. But by the end
of their voyage the Lamberts would discover this would not be true for them.

The shopkeeper told them that
Ho-tei had been a Buddhist monk in the 6th century who spent his
life helping the poor and caring for children. He later was made a god.

Two ivory Laughing Buddhas.

The Lamberts admired the
finely carved statue. It was old, made of creamy ivory and was of a half-naked
fat man sitting on a cushion. They discovered a small ivory plugged hole at the bottom.The statue had the figure of a child clinging to its
back. The shop owner told them that many Laughing Buddhas had “children” on their
backs.

This was because of a legend
that stated Ho-tei had once carried a child to safety across a flooded
river.

The couple happily bought the
statue and went on their way. Back on the ship Marie Lambert wrapped the statue
carefully and placed it in one of her suitcases.

Soon after the couple began
to be plagued by fevers and toothaches. At two separate ports in Australia, Marie
and then her husband C. J. sought out dentists to ease their pain—but once
ashore their pain was mysteriously gone.

Once back onboard their
toothaches resumed. Marie pulled out the statue one evening to show a fellow
traveller who admired the fine workmanship.

He had lived in Japan, and he told them that St. Christopher, which is used by westerners as a good luck charm and for travel protection, might have
originated from Ho-tei.

On their way back to their
home in London the Lambert's stopped in the states to visit Marie’s mother. This
woman also admired the ivory statuette. Marie then gave it to her as a gift.

But within hours her mother suffered
a toothache and she gave the statue back to the couple stating it had not
brought her good luck.

This is when the couple made
the connection between their toothaches and the old statue. Each time the
statue had been in their cabin onboard ship they had become ill but when the
suitcase it was in had been removed to the ship’s storage they had recovered.

While they had been ashore in
Australia—they had been away from this suitcase so their toothaches had
disappeared.

On board another ship headed
for London, Marie wanted to throw the statue overboard but C. J. stopped her
stating that they best not for all their teeth might rot.

Home in London, the couple
took the statue to an Asian antique dealer. Admiring the statue he offered to
pay them more than what they had paid but they refused stating they just wanted
to get rid of the statue—but were afraid to destroy it.

After hearing the Lambert’s
stories of painful toothaches and fevers this man called in an old Japanese
friend.

The two examined the statue
and discovered the plugged hole on the base. Several days later this dealer
requested the Lambert's stop by his store at their convenience.

As they entered his store they
noticed the Ho-tei had a place of honor on one counter. In fact, it looked like
a shrine. There were lit joss sticks in front of it.

Laughing Buddha Shrine

He told the couple what his
friend had told him. This Ho-tei was probably used as a temple god. The two men
had discovered a small medallion inside the statue.

These medallions where placed
in Laughing Buddha statues in order to give them a “soul.” This meant this
statue just needed to be treated with reverence.He pointed out the shrine. He
then bowed down. He told the skeptical couple with proper care this statue
would no longer be a threat.